When Golden Finger Meets Salted Fish

Dangers and opportunities coexisted throughout the secret realm.

After discovering something unusual about the rock wall, Yun Qingyue didn't hesitate. She summoned her Fuxue Sword and carved a line across the wall. Under the sharp blade, the rock was as fragile as tofu, easily yielding a hole. Looking inside, she confirmed the rock wall was indeed hollow. With a twist of her sword edge, the opening quickly expanded into a passage large enough for a person to pass through.

She stepped inside, where a cool air greeted her face, causing her to let out a soft "Oh?"—ordinary cultivators would attribute this coolness to the cave itself, but with her innate Ice Spiritual Root, Yun Qingyue could detect faint traces of ice spiritual energy in the cave.

The fiery red giant python she had slain earlier clearly belonged to the fire element. How strange that beneath the Spirit Nurturing Grass it guarded lay an ice-element treasure?

Though slightly surprised, Yun Qingyue continued forward without stopping, quickly proceeding along the passage. Upon entering, she discovered that the cave behind the rock wall was unexpectedly spacious, with nearly half the mountain's interior hollow. Natural stalactites hung from above, formed over thousands or tens of thousands of years. Their surfaces appeared somewhat wet, as if water drops might fall at any moment...

This wasn't an illusion. With a "drip," a drop of milky white liquid fell from the end of a stalactite.

Yun Qingyue looked toward the sound and saw that the white liquid hadn't fallen to the ground. Beneath the stalactite, a jade bowl quietly waited. As the milky liquid dripped in, ripples spread across the previously still surface of the water.

What was this?

Yun Qingyue curiously approached, and a wave of cold air immediately struck her face. A flash of interest appeared in her glaze-like eyes. She reached out her hand, and as soon as her fingertips touched the jade bowl, she felt as though they would freeze. Fortunately, with her Ice Spiritual Root, a slight circulation of spiritual energy within her body dispelled the discomfort in her fingertips, and she lifted the bowl.

The palm-sized jade bowl had been here for who knows how many years, yet the accumulated milky liquid barely filled half of it. Yun Qingyue examined it briefly but couldn't identify what the liquid was, though she could feel its domineering and piercing coldness.

After some thought, she raised her palm over the bowl's mouth and channeled spiritual energy, attempting to absorb the cold energy.

However, it didn't work. The cold energy couldn't be utilized by her, nor could it enhance her cultivation. Nevertheless, this substance was clearly extraordinary—perhaps a rare material for pill refining or artifact forging. Her inability to recognize it didn't mean others wouldn't. Such an opportunity couldn't be missed, so she ultimately collected both the milky liquid and the jade bowl.

Afterward, Yun Qingyue searched the cave thoroughly but made no further discoveries. Disappointed, she turned to leave. Passing by the stalactite that had produced the milky liquid, she suddenly paused and looked up.

This cave occupied nearly half the mountain's interior—not only was it expansive, but it was also quite tall. Looking up, Yun Qingyue saw that the cave ceiling was at least several dozen zhang from the ground. The gray stone didn't appear different from the surrounding rock walls, seemingly ordinary at first glance. But if it was truly ordinary, where had the milky liquid in the jade bowl come from?

Yun Qingyue wasn't usually one to investigate thoroughly, but a thought occurring to her, she channeled spiritual energy and flew upward. Approaching the cave ceiling, she extended her fair hand and pressed it directly against the cave wall near the stalactite. A cold sensation immediately permeated her palm.

There was indeed something at the top of the cave!

Yun Qingyue glanced at her palm, now instantly covered with frost. She circulated spiritual energy to dispel the frost, then thrust her sword into the ceiling. As easily as cutting tofu, she heard a "ding" sound as the sharp tip of her Fuxue Sword struck something hard, preventing further penetration.

This seemed to be the spot. What treasure could it be?

Yun Qingyue twisted the sword tip in her hand, carving a circle around the hard object. Then, channeling spiritual energy with a skillful force, she shook loose the entire piece of rock. Catching it in her hand, she saw that within the grayish rock, a streak of ice-blue was dazzlingly bright.

This time she recognized what the ice-blue streak was at a glance, exclaiming in amazement: "Ice Soul Source Crystal!"

The Ice Soul Source Crystal was a top-tier treasure of the ice attribute. Though it couldn't aid cultivation directly, it was the finest material for artifact forging. The milky liquid she had collected earlier was also no longer a mystery—it was Ice Soul Condensed Liquid, a byproduct of the Ice Soul Source Crystal. Both were excellent materials for artifact forging—one for inlaying, one for smelting—unparalleled choices for enhancing the grade of magical artifacts.

After her initial shock came delight. Although her Fuxue Sword had been recently refined and was perfectly adequate, she still hadn't used the dragon-veined beast bone she'd won after claiming victory in the Three Sect Martial Arts Competition. Now that she had obtained both the Ice Soul Source Crystal and Ice Soul Condensed Liquid, they would be perfect to use when the time came.

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While her Senior Sister was joyfully discovering treasures, Jiang Mo was sprinting desperately for her life. A group of fifth-grade beasts had been chasing her for nearly half a day.

This time it wasn't because she had stumbled from one pitfall into another or accidentally blundered into a beast lair—she had brought this upon herself entirely. On the third day of her journey to reunite with her Senior Sister, the little white cat happened to pass through the territory of a group of beasts. She had originally planned to conceal her aura and sneak past quietly, but halfway through, she suddenly caught an irresistibly enticing scent that nearly made her drool on the spot. Unable to control herself, she was drawn toward the scent, tiptoeing stealthily until she found a spiritual herb emitting a faint glow in the beasts' lair.

The result was predictable—the little white tiger couldn't resist her greed and devoured the spiritual herb that had just reached maturity. As soon as the herb's scent disappeared, it naturally attracted the attention of the beast group, and the subsequent pursuit was inevitable.

As Jiang Mo ran, the system clung to her ear, chattering: "Host, you're really something. So many level-forty-something beasts, and not only did you boldly sneak in, but you even dared to eat their herb. Do you have a death wish? Now look at this mess—so many beasts chasing you, and your Senior Sister is at least two days' journey away. I'd like to see how you escape this!"

The little white tiger's four paws moved so swiftly they were almost a blur. Hearing this, she showed no disappointment at all. Even if her Senior Sister were nearby, with such a group of powerful enemies in pursuit, she couldn't possibly lead them over and endanger her!

But while she couldn't endanger her Senior Sister, there were plenty of other beasts in this secret realm...

Jiang Mo's mind worked quickly. She immediately thought of a diversion strategy and asked the system: "System, are there any groups around here that could match these beasts? Preferably also living in groups—if they fight each other, we can escape."

Though the system complained, it didn't delay. It immediately extended its scanning tendrils to survey the surroundings, and soon had an answer. It rose into the air, flying ahead to lead the way, occasionally transforming into an arrow to indicate direction: "Host, follow me, this way."

Seeing this, Jiang Mo felt three parts more at ease and hurriedly followed the new course.

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The creatures pursuing Jiang Mo now were a group of ape-like beasts that moved just as swiftly through the mountain forest as if on level ground. Initially, Jiang Mo had thought to escape by flying when she saw the group of apes, but once airborne, she discovered that flying in the secret realm made her essentially a living target. Even though these apes couldn't fly, they were remarkably accurate at throwing stones with tremendous strength—capable of hitting targets hundreds of meters in the air!

The little white cat nearly had to run with her head tucked down, and finally had no choice but to land and rely on her four legs. Fortunately, feline animals are also fast runners, and with her level no lower than those apes, the latter couldn't catch up to her for the time being.

However, this couldn't continue indefinitely. Eventually, under the system's guidance, Jiang Mo led the group of apes into the territory of silver-backed bears.

Silver-backed bears, as the name suggests, have a tuft of silver fur on their backs and are common earth-attribute beasts. Their habits aren't much different from ordinary bear beasts; they don't live in groups, but a family of large and small bears still numbers six. Already naturally thick-skinned, with the added bonus of earth attributes, these silver-backed bears had formidable defenses. Few beasts in the vicinity dared to provoke the family.

However, exceptions always exist, and today a group of Iron-Armed Apes had trespassed into the silver-backed bear family's territory. The largest and most powerful male bear was the first to notice and rushed out. Its angry roar could be heard from afar.

The Iron-Armed Apes and silver-backed bears were both fifth-grade beasts, and the apes even outnumbered the bears, but upon hearing the male bear's roar, they unanimously halted at the boundary of the bears' territory. The reason was simple: even beasts of the same grade vary in strength, and the silver-backed bears were clearly stronger than these Iron-Armed Apes. Despite their pursuit of the cat, they hadn't completely lost their reason.

However, the bold little spirit cat had stolen the Genesis Herb they had guarded for years, and these Iron-Armed Apes were clearly not going to let her go easily. Now a group of apes stood at the edge of the silver-backed bear's territory, howling back and forth.

The little white cat, being small and moving quietly as felines do, had slipped into the bear's territory without alarming them and hidden herself. Hearing this commotion, she couldn't help but glance over and breathe a small sigh of relief—it was good they dared not pursue her here. Once the silver-backed bears passed by, she could slip away in another direction. She still needed to find her Senior Sister and had no time to run around with these beasts.

Unfortunately, Jiang Mo had clearly relaxed too soon, or rather, she had clearly underestimated the level of the silver-backed bears and Iron-Armed Apes. Fifth-grade beasts correspond to Nascent Soul realm cultivation. Even though these beasts had ordinary bloodlines and could neither speak nor shapeshift, simple communication was already possible for them.

The silver-backed bear hurried to the scene and exchanged howls with the Iron-Armed Apes. Before long, both sides had communicated the entire situation.

Beasts are not naturally good-tempered. The silver-backed bear hadn't immediately fought with the apes only because they hadn't trespassed into its territory. However, the Iron-Armed Apes' loss of the Genesis Herb was not the bear's concern—knowing this, it would only mock and gloat at their misfortune rather than empathize.

But when it heard that the little thief had slipped into its territory, the silver-backed bear became agitated. Trespassing on its territory was a minor issue; more importantly, its mate had recently given birth to bear cubs. What if the little thief harmed its wife and children?!

With this thought, the silver-backed bear turned and ran back.

Bears have a highly sensitive sense of smell. Familiar with every blade of grass and tree in its territory, it easily detected the unfamiliar scent once it knew an intruder had entered its domain.

The silver-backed bear immediately tracked the scent, and the remaining Iron-Armed Apes, seeing this, followed without hesitation.